What We Habitually Do Changes Us

Below are excerpts from an article by philosopher/author/professor James K.A. Smith on having vocational liturgies. The full article can be found here. 

What are the rituals that start your day? Many of us have adopted daily habits without much reflection. Our morning rituals probably include a cycle of “checking in”—with email, with Facebook, with Twitter, with the Wall Street Journal. If Martian anthropologists landed in our offices or at our breakfast tables, they might read our hunched postures over our phones as a kind of religious devotion to some electronic talisman.

And what if those rituals aren’t just something that you do? What if they are also doing something to you? What if those rituals are veritable “liturgies” of a sort? What if pursuing God in our vocations requires immersion in rituals that direct our passions?

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If we want to pursue God in our vocations, we need to immerse ourselves in rituals and rhythms and practices whereby the love of God seeps into our very character—is woven into, not just how we think, but who we are.

This is one of the reasons why worship is not some escape from “the work week.” To the contrary, our worship rituals train our hearts and aim our desires toward God and his kingdom so that when we are sent from worship to take up our work, we do so with a habituated orientation toward the Lover of our souls.

This is also why we need to think about habit-shaping practices—“vocational liturgies,” we might call them—that can sustain this love throughout the week. ...

Let’s think creatively about rhythms and rituals and routines that would let the good news sink into us throughout the week. I’m reminded of an investment banker in Manhattan who spearheaded the practice of listening to the public reading of Scripture with his colleagues on Wall Street. Or teachers who have committed to the practice of morning prayer as a way to frame their daily work. There are all kinds of ways to contextualize vocational liturgies that train us to love the God who pulls us and calls us. We must remember that anything we do repeatedly, all of our daily rituals—from habitually checking emails and Facebook, to intentionally praying and reading Scripture—shapes the kind of people we are.

Felt Needs vs. Deepest Need

"When Jesus saw the man lying there and knew that he had already been there [for 38 years], he said to him, 'Do you want to be made whole?' The sick man answered him, 'Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.'" (John 5:6-7)

The man in this account had been some sort of invalid for at least 38 years...probably his whole life. So for 38 years this man has sat by these waters that supposedly had healing powers, no better off than he was 38 years earlier when he arrived. In his response to Jesus' question of whether he wants to be made whole, the man wrongly assumes two things: 1) that being made whole has primarily to do with his life circumstances as opposed to his relationship with God, and 2) that Jesus is incapable of restoring him to wholeness. 

What life circumstances are you tempted to equate with wholeness? Career success? Financial security? Physical health? Appearance? Relationship status? How does your definition of wholeness impact your day-to-day life? 

The Book that Reads You

Author, editor, and teacher Gregory Wolfe had this to say in response to the question of whether Christians should read anything other than Scripture: 

"I think [the Bible is] saying the opposite: read me faithfully and you will be equipped to read everything. If scripture doesn’t send you out into the world with curiosity and compassion, then it’s not from God." 

The HBR on Work-Life Balance

A thought on finding successful work-life balance from Stewart D. Friedman, the Practice Professor of Management at the Wharton School, for the Harvard Business Review: 

Start by considering three principles: be real, be whole, and be innovative. To be real is to act with authenticity by clarifying what’s important to you. To be whole is to act with integrity by recognizing how the different parts of your life (work, home, community, self) affect one another. All this examination allows you to be innovative. You act with creativity by experimenting with how things get done in ways that are good for you and for the people around you.

Your Identity Directly Impacts Your Relationships

"To the saints and faithful brothers in Christ at Colossae: Grace and peace to you from God our Father." (Col. 1:2)

A lot of the frustration we experience in relationships (with coworkers, friends, significant others, etc.) is directly tied to our search for identity. If our identity comes from things like our romantic relationships, friendships, careers, achievements, appearance, bank accounts, or personality traits, then our identity is an ever-changing patchwork of other people's opinions. Consequently, we use and manipulate people who we think can give us what we need, and we crush people who get in our way. It is impossible to love and enjoy people while we are manipulating or crushing them. 

In the above quote, the apostle Paul is reminding these men and women that their most foundational identity is derivative of their relationship with God. They are "saints", or "called out ones", chosen by God for his good purposes to be worked out in their lives. More specifically, they are "brothers (and sisters)" in God's family. Their identity is found in the reality that God has adopted them into his family and chooses to treasure them as his own children forever. Since their foundational identity is rooted in God's love, they are free to love and enjoy other people. 

Where does your identity come from? 

How does that impact the way you interact with people?